By continuing to use our site, you accept the placing (i) of cookies to determine the site's audience, visits, and your navigation, to provide offers adapted to your areas of interest and personalised advertising, and (ii) of third-party cookies designed to suggest videos, share buttons, and relay content from social media.
See more

Ballyfin Demesne (County Laois)

“Yesterday, I saw a most delightful place indeed, much beyond any place I have seen in Ireland – Ballyfin”. The observation by an aristocratic 18th century visitor is still there today. The 600 acre demesne is a place of tranquillity and great natural beauty. Created and refined over the past 400 years with its woodlands, lake, water features, grottos, follies and walled gardens, it provides an idyllic private world for guests to explore and enjoy a range of activities. At its centre is the late Georgian House which has been carefully and thoroughly restored to provide an exceptional level of comfort and luxury combined with all the facilities to be expected in a grand hotel.

Unique in the world: The observation by an aristocratic 18th century visitor is still there today.

Discover the hotel

Set at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains just over an hour from Dublin, Ballyfin has long been admired as the most lavish Regency mansion in Ireland. It is a place of history and romance, of tranquillity and great natural beauty. With 20 bedrooms, magnificent grandeur, unparalled seclusion and privacy, decorated with Irish art and antiques from around the world, Ballyfin is in the same spirit of refined elegance that the early House reflected in the 1820s. For today's guest,formality is blended with an informal and relaxed approach that is wonderfully warm and welcoming. Step outdoors to enjoy 614 acres of private parkland, a 28 acre lake, ancient woods, follies and grottoes.

Our commitments

This former school is more than a hotel: dedicated to preserving biodiversity, it is also a convalescent home for injured animals.

The hotel works closely with the local animal rescue center and provides refuge on its large estate and rehabilitation in peace and safety. Too numerous to count are the pheasants, squirrels and wild ducks that have stayed here. And each year, a couple of swans return to this beautiful destination and sing their ode to freedom. Proudly, the largely local personnel keeps a careful watch over them.